Birthday Girl Zoë Saldana on How There's "No Sleep" in a House With Twin Boys

We're wishing InStyle's July cover star, Zoë Saldana, a very happy 37th birthday today! To celebrate the new mom's special day, we're taking you behind the scenes of her InStyle photo shoot with the above exclusive video, where she dishes on her twin boys, Cy and Bowie, and what it's like to be a working mom.

"I have been talking to a lot of my friends that are also first-time moms, and we're all dreading that moment," Saldana says of going back to work in the clip. "But I've also been talking with moms that did it and went through that experience, and they say it gets better."

The actress also reveals that some of Hollywood's hottest dads have even given her guidance on being a new parent. "Everybody gave me advice, from Channing Tatum to Diego Luna to Mark Ruffalo and Chris Pratt—it was all the fathers," she says. "They were like 'Walk. You should be walking. Just walk, don't do exercise if you don't want to or whatever. Don't get in your head about it.' Because I was so not doing anything. They were like, 'Just walk, it'll help you. It helped my wife a great deal.' And I didn't follow that advice," she says, laughing.

Watch the full video above, where Saldana dishes on her "no sleep" life, Cy and Bowie's distinctive personalities, and more. And for Zoë Saldana's feature, be sure pick up the July InStyle, now available on newsstands and for digital download.

Show Transcript

[MUSIC] How do I balance motherhood and work? I'm getting ready to go back to work right now so I'll let you know [LAUGH] when that happens. But I have been talking to a lot of my friends that are also first time moms. And we're all dreading that moment. But I've also been talking with moms that did it and went through that experience. and they say it gets better. Everybody gave me advice, from Channing Tatum to [UNKNOWN] Laluna to Mark Ruffle and Chris Pratt. It was all the fathers that said walk, you should be walking. Just walk, don't do exercise if you don't want to or whatever. Don't get in your head about it. Because I was so not doing anything. They were like just walk. It will help you, it helped my wife a great deal. And I didn't follow that advice. Everybody always used to say, oh my God, you're not, you don't sleep, you don't sleep, you don't sleep. And I thought, I'll be able to squeeze in a couple hours here and there and it's like, there's no sleep. We don't have a singleton experience. We don't just have one baby. We have two so the moment you put one down, the other one's like so you just oh my God! You already have to do it all over again but it's the most magical thing because you could be absolutely exhausted. But the moment you hear one of your children cry, you get this this energy that is born out of you. And you swing yourself out of bed and you are, in a second, in their bedroom and you feel good, you feel awake. Twins are [LAUGH] it's a very humbling experience. And I do know that it will get easier, the older they get, because they become more independent of you. But you know, you have two people. You know, [UNKNOWN] a certain way, and Bowie is another way. But, guess what? Like. Every month, it changes. Bowie was, like, this anti-social person that would uninvite anybody that walked into the house. With just, like, a look or a stare, or he'd cry. And Cy was always like, you know, we call him Cy the Guy. He was, like, oh hey, how you doing, whatever. But now, like, this month, Cy is, like super shy. And Bowie is now, like. Ciao, come, come, come. Like he's very much like smiling at everybody yelling trying to get your attention. So they keep changing but they already have their personalities. Like Bowie's definitely more intense and Psy is a much more relaxed kind of guy you know? [LAUGH] [MUSIC]

[MUSIC] How do I balance motherhood and work? I'm getting ready to go back to work right now so I'll let you know [LAUGH] when that happens. But I have been talking to a lot of my friends that are also first time moms. And we're all dreading that moment. But I've also been talking with moms that did it and went through that experience. and they say it gets better. Everybody gave me advice, from Channing Tatum to [UNKNOWN] Laluna to Mark Ruffle and Chris Pratt. It was all the fathers that said walk, you should be walking. Just walk, don't do exercise if you don't want to or whatever. Don't get in your head about it. Because I was so not doing anything. They were like just walk. It will help you, it helped my wife a great deal. And I didn't follow that advice. Everybody always used to say, oh my God, you're not, you don't sleep, you don't sleep, you don't sleep. And I thought, I'll be able to squeeze in a couple hours here and there and it's like, there's no sleep. We don't have a singleton experience. We don't just have one baby. We have two so the moment you put one down, the other one's like so you just oh my God! You already have to do it all over again but it's the most magical thing because you could be absolutely exhausted. But the moment you hear one of your children cry, you get this this energy that is born out of you. And you swing yourself out of bed and you are, in a second, in their bedroom and you feel good, you feel awake. Twins are [LAUGH] it's a very humbling experience. And I do know that it will get easier, the older they get, because they become more independent of you. But you know, you have two people. You know, [UNKNOWN] a certain way, and Bowie is another way. But, guess what? Like. Every month, it changes. Bowie was, like, this anti-social person that would uninvite anybody that walked into the house. With just, like, a look or a stare, or he'd cry. And Cy was always like, you know, we call him Cy the Guy. He was, like, oh hey, how you doing, whatever. But now, like, this month, Cy is, like super shy. And Bowie is now, like. Ciao, come, come, come. Like he's very much like smiling at everybody yelling trying to get your attention. So they keep changing but they already have their personalities. Like Bowie's definitely more intense and Psy is a much more relaxed kind of guy you know? [LAUGH] [MUSIC]

You May Like

Read More

Let's Make It Newsletter-Official

Never have InStyle FOMO again! Get the best fashion, beauty, celebrity exclusives and shopping advice straight to your inbox.